The Penn's Grove record., 1887-10-29

week was slipping by, and every night
he drew a sigh Of relief at the thought
of the clean record Of that day. The
door had opened at the sesame of care
sulness and perseverance,.
Colonel Mardep-this was Wednesday
sent him to look up an estate in
q certain unusued index, whose dates
were those of the last century.
The volume opened OF itself, and
between the leaves lay a thick folded
paper. Arthur's heart gave a bound
that almost stided him, as with a kind
OF premonition he caught it up.
Yes, 1t was the lost will.
"in the name Of God, amen. l.,
John B. Thornton, Of Dalton, County
Of
He had reached thus far by a kind of
fascination.
.Isu't it there, Arthur" called
Colonel Marden's voice. There was
the sound of q chair pushed back.
'.Perhaps-"
The thoughts rushed through the
boys brain as he stood there, trans
fixed, will in hand. and struggled with
the temptation.
How had it found its way to this
volume never before taken down-cer-
tainly not by Sam. Could the Colonel
himself-no, impossible. One of the
lawyers2 Yes, probably. They were
always more or less in and out. He
must have had 1t, then, IN consulting
the old index, carelessly left it there,
and Sam was guiltless, and he would be
sven with him again more than even,
for he was 'smarter," Arthur reluct-
antly acknowledged, and they were
there that Colonel Marden might see
which vas the smart one.
The quick, firm step was near the
door.
HIS advantage would be gone in an
other moment. Only three days more.
He couldyn9t give # up. oh. he could
mott Amir 1t was not his business to
bring it forward, either. Very likely
Sam had left 1t there, after all. He
was forever leaving things In unheard-
of places.
or course he would not do anything
SO mean as to hide 1t outright, put it In
his pocket or destroy 1t. He would
inst leave it there and give Sam the
same opportunity Of finding it. The
struggle was succeeded by a glow OF
selr-righteOusness that he had not put
1t forever out of his rivals way, when
too. that rival was so hateful and mean
a fellow.
Twenty pages lay upon Sans hopes
and ambitions, as Colonel Marden
~turned-no, he never turned, wheeled
into the room.
"Yes, sir, I'll have 1t in a moment
Arthur made answer, 80 co0lly as to
surprise himself. Yes, he would have
been a fool to have done differently.
Surer yet was he that he had chosen
we'll when Saturday came. 1t was
court day. too, when the court meeting
at PaulsbOro' the Register would be
away all day in attendance. He was
in the office u short time in the morn
ing. and 1t was just as he was going
that he said:
Il waySATsniur, I heard at the
l..t moment that the Loring case may
be called. Get the papers ready, and
if necessary 1 will send for them.
!DDn't fail. / promised Judge Baxter
to attend to it. You understandp"
Eyes, sir, responded Arthur, easily
but his heart sank.
Still, he had the morning before him,
and the papers might not be sent for,
after ali. He knew enough about
Colonel Marden by this time to feel
that after that Eyes, sir" it would be
an unforgivable thing to fail him.
There was nothing particularly difficult
about the case, only a puzzling techni-
cality that. had occurred again and
EgaIn, btgs &hIGh. iAe had been unable as
yet to master.
But he would look it up. Surely
there was time.
And perhaps he might have succeeded
though his brain fairly reeled with his
efforts; but everything seemed against
him. There were more callers than
usual, several of them old farmers who
persisted In telling him their story
from beginning to end, and there were
papers called for and ceaseless momen-
tary Interruptions of "The Colonel
Imp" till noon came, and he had not yet
mastered that knotty point, while every
moment the "Probate Directory
seemed to grow foggier.
He renamed la the Office through
the dinner hour.
Perhaps, after all. the papers would
not be sent for. This, as the afternoon
wore on, became the hope to which he
chung most fondly,
Three O'Clock and he began to
breathe easier; four, and he relaxed his
efforts. The office closed at five. Half.
past, and tipping back on his high
office stool, he gave a glance OF neon
cealed triumph at Sam, duly met and
interpreted.
Quarter of Eve. A week from now
he would be in Hanover, a freshman,
with a little pin, his society pin, on his
waistcoat and coming home vacations
to see the fellows OF his class plodding
on In stores or rusting out their lives
on farms, like Sam Allen, who once
had actually thought he could get to
college over his shoulders. Well, he
would meet him kindly
The door opened. A boy in uniform
entered, he had a yellow envelope in
his hand,
"Here! Give it hers!" called Arthur,
and tore 1t open.
"Send papers at once, without faill''
The express went at a.15, and he
had been trying in vain all day. There
lay the papers, to be sure, but they
might be useless, and Colonel Marden
receiving them at this juncture-he
was a quick-tempered man, too, be-
meath his self-control-lt would be
fatal.
For a moment Arthur buried hi.
face in his hand. He must take the
chances.
He took the papers, folded them once,
twice. TO OF the big envelope. San
looked up.
"Giye 'em here" he said, gruffly.
Not understanding the motive, buI
grasping at the action as az the pro-
verbal straw, Arthur gave them, me
chemically.
Sam spread them out, looked then
over, asked shortly for other papers,
made a correction here, an addition
there, flung one into the waste basket
and replaced 1t with a different blank
Then, without a word, he tossed then